Cecelia Hopkins-Drewer

My favourite childhood memories are all jumbled together. I absolutely loved performing in school concerts. I had an almost perfect memory in those days and could memorise my lines at a reading. Then I ‘became’ the character. This meant I always received a lead role. I absolutely adored drama.

Struggles learning to read included the letters not gluing themselves together into words, and the words not joining together to form sentences. Years later, I became a keen reader, but I can still remember the pain of learning. Enough to commit me to helping students who have difficulties.

I believe the book was book three of the Famous Five series: ‘Five Run Away Together’. (I was given the books out of order.) The book inspired me to read, and the love of reading made me want to be an author. When I was a child, this was the answer I gave to the question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Till I realized that authorship was difficult, and then I amended my answer to “a nurse”.

I was born Cecelia Hopkins. I was married, Cecelia Drewer. I have published poems and articles as both. I wanted people to know that both of me were one person, so I hyphenated.

I’m an ‘inspiration’ author rather than a researcher. Sure, I check facts as I write. Sometimes it is almost spooky. Inspiration told me to place something somewhere, and I Google to see whether that is realistic. Sometimes, the coincidence is remarkable. When I write about an era, I do check that the organisations, technology and places mentioned actually exist. Sometimes I travel to learn more about a place that I am writing about. I cannot afford world travel, but it helps to see different settings within Australia. This is practical research.

I set Faith and Love in the 1980s because it was the sequel to Silver Springtime. Silver Springtime was set during the period when I actually grew up. The 1980s are becoming trendy in film and television, with the big curled hair (as opposed to the long flowing hair of the seventies), clinched waists and rock and roll lifestyle.

“Bildungsroman” is the genre of education and development. Classic examples include: James Joyce's 'A Portait of the Artist as a Young Man', Charles Dickens ‘David Copperfield’, Charlotte Bronte’s ‘Jayne Eyre’, and Henry Handel Richardson’s ‘The Getting of Wisdom’.

I see examples I do not agree with: ‘Gone with the Wind’ is NOT because it follows Scarlet too far into adult life – and does she ever get smart really? ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ is also NOT because of its narrow focus on the one court case.

‘Smallville’ on the other hand, might be because, despite all the sci-fi elements, it follows Clark Kent’s development from awkward alien child to morally confident superhero. The ‘Hunger Games’ series may also be, although I hope no youth really go through such a violent education process.

I learned about this genre during my university studies. The focus must be on maturation, spiritual and moral development. ‘Harry Potter’ and hundreds of stories have school settings, Hogwarts’ but the children mostly ‘get older’ throughout the adventures. If they faced their moral dilemmas, like really digesting the fact that Professor Snape is a good guy despite being ‘dark arts’ professor, and that students are not evil for simply being sorted into Slytherin, such a story might begin to qualify as a bildungsroman instead of an adventure.

Well that is a difficult question. It almost seemed that having certain real world achievements, set me free to finish a book. Before that, I had lots of started manuscripts, and one almost completely written manuscript, with a few holes in it. I cannot extrapolate tips for aspiring writers from this. Just to keep trying until the time is right.

My thesis ‘The Literary Manifesto of H.P. Lovecraft’ was about the literary theory behind the fiction of weird tale writer, Howard Phillips Lovecraft.

In addition to the tales, Lovecraft left a huge body of letters and some amateur journalism that scholars are still picking through. I was lucky to have support from Leigh Blackmore, who lent me a lot of resources, and Sunand Tryambak Joshi, who is most encouraging of young scholars in the field.

Lovecraft was highly eclectic. His ultimate focus was on the weird tale, but he read literature from the ancient Greek up to his own contemporary turn-of-the-Twentieth Century writers. He was mostly inclined to subscribe to the theories of the classicists, but produced a literature quite unrelated to theirs in style.

I design my own book covers. I have asked artists for help, but they generally are too busy. So, in the case of the Nevermore Parables covers, I had to use my own concept sketches. I love the cover for ‘Mystic Evermore’.

I am not so sure about the cover for ‘Saints and Sinners’ as people see a heart and say ‘romance’. They don’t notice that it is a BROKEN heart. In ‘Saints and Sinners’ I create a vampire for the first time, as opposed to the vampires that pre-exist when the story commences. The heart seemed like a winner when I first implemented the design.

I also want to own the rights to my covers, and never have my covers duplicate with other writers. My friend Allan Schultz takes original photographs for my covers. We quest far and wide for the perfect photograph. ‘Autumn Secrets’ uses a combination of photographic background and hand-drawn silhouette superimposed above this.

The covers print very well. This is important. I still believe in paperbacks. I have inspected a lot of fantasy art, and the contrast is not good enough or printing. Maybe these images sell well as ebook covers, but they do not meet my criterion for quality. When I eventually become a household name, I want my cover to be something to be proud of as well as the book.

I am reality television obsessed. Enough said.

I need a lot of names. Especially amongst a cast of twenty plus. And that is only one book. Names cannot all begin with the same letter, so I need to spread them out. Names convey personalities to certain extent. I also work in kindergartens. I hear lot of names. Modern parents me them up. Jackson is now commonly spelt Jaxon!

“Relate to the most?” I cannot give that away! Personality-wise I may be Vonda. Attitude and interest-wise, I might be more Janny. Deborah was created to be a bitch, but she absolutely rocks!

The next book in The Silver Springs University Series is in the editing phase. It is called ‘Love Always Hopes’. It has a cover. I will probably order proof within a couple of months. Expect it out between July and September 2019. “Cara has ignored Dylan for two and a half years. Has she left it too late to gain his forgiveness? Love Always Hopes (The Silver Springs Christian University Series Book 3) - Coming in 2019”

What am I working on now? The final installment to the Silver Springs University Series: ‘A Prayer for Understanding’.

After that – no more realism. I am turning to hard-core Science Fiction.

I write most mornings. When I am stuck in rut I go out. Sometimes I read other’s books. Sometimes I watch TV or a movie.

I use Beta readers and I study the market and see what is popular. However, different readers want different things. My Christian readers will never want what my Sydney Horror Association friends like. I am stuck in conflicting worlds.

I am not sure when I found Allauthor. I think someone mentioned ‘cover wars’ on bulletin board and a Google search showed several sites that hosted cover competitions. My expectations include a free profile and book listing. I won’t pay or anything that does not contain a permanent element. Once I see other things I do like, such as the ability to feature books, I consider paying something. The graphics you send are cute, but it is the success of the twitter promotions I am most curious about.